Cifers, Dangerous Tales (SBL)

NEW BOOK FROM SBL PRESS:

Dangerous Tales: Genesis 34 and Its Literary Descendants
Carrie A. Cifers

ISBN 9781628376302
Volume BibRec 9
Status Available
Publication Date April 2025

Hardback $77.00
eBook $57.00
Paperback $57.00

The biblical narrative of Israel’s only daughter Dinah is steeped in deception and violence, vengeance and destruction, and a silence that has posed interpretive problems for readers for more than two millennia. Carrie A. Cifers takes up the retellings of Genesis 34 in Josephus’s Jewish Antiquities, the book of Jubilees, and Joseph and Aseneth to explore how later authors tried to clarify the assumedly implicit ethical message of Dinah’s story. Through narrative ethics and socionarratology, Cifers demonstrates that biblical stories are a space of encounter where texts make claims on readers and where readers have an ethical responsibility as witnesses to the text. Dangerous Tales is a call for contemporary readers to engage biblical narratives in ways that mitigate interpretive violence and maximize each text’s ethical potential.

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Sporadic blogging

BLOGGING may be light and sporadic over the next 3-4 weeks. I'll keep to it as much as I can.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Late-antique African figurines excavated in Negev

ICONOGRAPHY: African Figurines Made of Asian Wood Found in Early Christian Graves in Israel. Archaeologists excavating Byzantine tombs by the Nevatim air base in southern Israel two unique pendants that may whisper of early converts to Christianity from Ethiopia coming to the Holy Land (Ruth Schuster, Haaretz).

For a place few people have heard of, the town at Tel Malhata in the northeastern Negev Desert had a long and distinguished history. Now it is also home to one of the stranger finds in the annals of Israeli archaeology: wooden pendants of what are clearly African-style heads, carved from southeast Asian blackwood, found in early Christian graves.

"It is a very special find," agrees Dr. Noé D. Michael of the Israel Antiquities Authority and the University of Cologne in Germany, who handled the inspection and assisted at the excavation next to the Nevatim air base in the Negev, which is really where this story begins.

[...]

This story is getting a lot of media attention. This article notes the underlying article just published in the open-access journal ʻAtiqot:

Michael, Noé D.; Talis, Svetlana; Nagar, Yossi; and Aladjem, Emil (2025) "Bone and Ebony Figurines from Christian Burials in the Roman–Byzantine Necropolis of Tel Malḥata," 'Atiqot: Vol. 117, Article 12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.70967/2948-040X.2260. Abstract:

A large cemetery dating to the Roman–Byzantine period was exposed south of Tel Malḥata, in the northeastern Negev Desert. Most of the burials were cist graves, comprising an individual buried according to Christian burial traditions. It is noteworthy that woman and children constitute the majority of the burials with grave goods. Three excavated cist tombs, of two women and a child, are discussed below in light of their rare burial goods, which included bone and ebony figurines, the latter possibly pointing to an “Ethiopian” origin of the interred.

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Matthew Goff honored

FLORIDA STATE UNIVERSITY: FSU names three faculty as Distinguished Research Professor (KATHLEEN HAUGHNEY). Congratulations to all three FSU faculty, but notably to Matthew Goff:

Matthew Goff, Religion, College of Arts and Sciences

Matthew Goff is a prolific scholar of Early Judaism and Biblical studies. His research has involved close readings of ancient texts, including the Dead Sea Scrolls. He has training in multiple languages, including Biblical Hebrew, Greek, Aramaic, Middle Egyptian, Ge’ez (Classical Ethiopic), German, French and Latin. Goff joined the Department of Religion in 2005. He completed an M.T.S degree in 1997 at Harvard Divinity School and finished his Ph.D. at the University of Chicago in 2002. His most recent book is “The Apocrypha: A Guide” (Oxford, 2024). Goff’s current book project is on demons and monsters in ancient Judaism and early Christianity.

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On the leaders of the Bar Kokhba Revolt

FOR LAG B'OMER: Who really led the Bar Kochba revolt? New research sheds light on rebellion’s enigmas. Recent paper suggests Jewish veterans from the Roman army may have initially led the 2nd-century Jewish war against the Romans, one of the events connected with Lag B’Omer (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

Jewish veterans from the Roman army — and not Shimon Bar Kochba — may have initially led the 2nd-century Jewish rebellion against the Romans commonly known as the “Bar Kochba Revolt.”

The revolt — launched by outraged Jews protesting Emperor Hadrian’s decision to construct a city dedicated to Jupiter on the ruins of Jerusalem — is one of the events connected to the Jewish holiday of Lag B’Omer, observed on May 15-16 this year.

While Jewish leadership is traditionally attributed to Shimon Bar Kochba, Dr. Haggai Olshanetsky, a researcher at the University of Warsaw, postulated in a recent paper that experienced Roman army veterans launched the revolt, and only later, the extremist self-aggrandizing zealot Bar Kochba took up the reins.

[...]

I already noted Dr. Olshanetsky's article when it came out, but it's worth mentioning again for the holiday. I have also noted more of his work here, here, and here.

For more on Lag B'Omer and the Bar Kokhba Revolt, see here, here, here and here.

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Lag B'Omer 2025

LAG B'OMER, the 33rd day of the Counting of the Omer, begins tonight at sundown. Best wishes to all observing it.

My 2024 Lag B'Omer post is here with links.

For the biblical and rabbinic background of the holiday, see here and here.

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Greek Ezekiel papyrus on display in Madrid

EXHIBITION: The Ezekiel Papyrus at the National Library, Madrid (Sofia Torallas Tovar).

The Ezekiel Papyrus, our protagonist, opens two universes of great interest, two issues that are intertwined in this exhibition. On the one hand, production and on the other, dispersion. On the one hand, a very ancient codex of the Greek Old Testament, exceptionally well preserved, which presents a biblical text prior to certain processes of textual regularization in the third century CE, therefore a very valuable witness. On the other hand, it is a clear example of the processes that during the 20th century tore cultural heritage to shreds through purchases and dispersal in poorly regulated antiquities markets.

HT Rogue Classicism and the OTTC Blog.

For more on Papyrus 967 (p967) see here and here.

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Guide to ethnographic passages by Diodoros of Sicily

ETHNIC RELATIONS AND MIGRATION IN THE ANCIENT WORLD: Guide to Diodoros of Sicily (Philip A. Harland).

This post provides a guide for reading sequentally through ethnographic passages from Diodoros of Sicily’s Library of History (ca. 36 BCE) on this website: ...

Diodorus (Diodoros) preserves some material from what I call the Greek Fantasy Babylon tradition. For examples from Diodorus himself, see here and (quoting Ctesias) here.

Diodorus also gives an account of the Maccabean Revolt.

And for more on him and his work, see here and links plus here.

For more on Philip Harland's blog, see here and links and here.

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Trotter on Consolatory Rhetoric in Hellenistic Judaism

THE BIBLE AND INTERPRETATION:

Consolatory Rhetoric in Hellenistic Judaism

Hellenistic Jews needed to pick and choose between the various methods of consolation within their biblical heritage and their Greco-Roman culture to interpret suffering, offer comfort, and issue advice about how to behave in hardship.

See also Hellenistic Jews and Consolatory Rhetoric: 2 Maccabees, Wisdom of Solomon, 1 Thessalonians, and Hebrews (Mohr Siebeck, 2023).

By Christine R. Trotter
Department of Theology and Religious Studies
Georgetown University
May 2025

I noted the publication of the book here and an essay on it by the author here.

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A Judeo-Persian Pentateuch based on Targum Onkelos

BIBLIOGRAPHIA IRANICA: An Early Judeo-Persian Rabbanite Text.

Bernard, Chams Benoît. 2025. An Early Judeo-Persian Rabbanite Text: Vat. Pers. 61, Its Linguistic Variety, Its Arabic Vocabulary, and the Targum Onqelos. Journal of Jewish Languages 1–55.

Follow the link for the abstract and a link to the open-access full text of the article.

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DSS photo essay

PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY: The unbelievable revelations of the Dead Sea Scrolls (Stars Insider, MSN).

Despite the unpromising headline, this is nice collection of photos with informative captions which tell the story of discovery of the Dead Sea Scrolls and some of their subsequent history.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

A new excavation at Samaria/Sebastia

ARCHAEOLOGY: Archaeologists launch new excavation in West Bank at capital of ancient Israel. Sebastia archaeological site features remains from biblical to modern times; Palestinian Authority denounces dig, accusing Israel of ‘colonial and Judaization practices’ (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

A new archaeological dig at the ancient site of Sebastia in the West Bank was inaugurated on Monday in the presence of several government officials.

Sebastia – known in Hebrew by its biblical name, “Shomron” – is thought to have been the capital of the northern Israelite kingdom in the 9th and 8th centuries BCE.

The excavations will be led by Uzi Greenfeld, an archaeologist from the Archaeology Unit of the Civil Administration.

[...]

The Jerusalem Post Staff and their AI are pleased:

Israel restarts archaeological excavations at Sebastia after 12-year hiatus. Israel's Minister of Heritage Amihai Eliyahu states, "Sebastia is one of the most important sites in our national and historical heritage."

Haaretz, not so much:

Israel Launches Excavation at Ancient Site of Sebastia in Palestinian Village in West Bank. For decades, Israel refrained from excavating the site, located north of Nablus. The decision to proceed is highly contentious, as international law prohibits such activity by Israel. 'The goal here is about settlement, not tourism,' said the Palestinian head of the local council (Hagar Shezaf)

Politics aside, I hope the new excavation finds more inscribed Samaria ostraca.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Social inferences from the ancient Hebrew onomasticon

EPIGRAPHIC ONOMASTIC ALGORITHM WATCH: Names Reveal Unseen History of Biblical Kingdoms of Israel and Judah, Researchers Say. Using statistical methods first developed to decode Nazi messages in WWII, new study on ancient Hebrew names sheds light on society and belief in First Temple period (Ariel David, Haaretz).

Here's an "Enigma" for you: What links Alan Turing, famed cracker of Nazi codes, to rare butterflies and Hebrew names from the First Temple period?

The answer is that a team of researchers has revealed new information about the history of the biblical kingdoms of Judah and Israel by studying the Hebrew names scribbled on pottery or etched on personal seals during the First Temple period. The analysis used statistical methods first developed during World War II by Turing and colleagues to decode Germany's Enigma cipher, and which have since been applied by ecologists to study rare species.

[...]

Sounds like an interesting study, albeit one that squeezes the last bit of inference out of very limited data. The Haaretz article gives lots of helpful background. The underlying article is also covered in:

What’s in a name? Diving into the ancient names of biblical Israel. Ancient name data reveals Israel was more diverse than Judah, offering new insight into biblical-era societies through a modern statistical lens (JOANIE MARGULIES, Jerusalem Post)

Ancient Israelites were more worldly than their insular Judean cousins, study shows. Using statistical methods from field of ecological biodiversity, Israeli scholars analyze 1,000 First Temple period names and find that the northern state was likely more ‘cosmopolitan’ (Rossella Tercatin, Times of Israel).

A Hebrew University press release is published at Phys.org:

Name diversity sheds light on social patterns in ancient Hebrew kingdoms.

I cannot comment on the underlying article, because, oddly, it is no longer up at the PNAS site. The link is correct, shared by all the above articles, but it goes to a dead end. And neither the title nor the author show up in a search of the site. But you should check the link again. Perhaps it is back up when you read this.

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On the Cairo Geniza

CAIRO GENIZA WATCH: The Cairo Geniza: How a Dusty Attic Changed Jewish History Forever. A thousand years of daily life, debate, and devotion, preserved in a forgotten storeroom in Cairo is reshaping Jewish history (Eliyahu Freedman, AISH.COM).

In 1896, in a forgotten storeroom above the ancient Ben Ezra Synagogue in Cairo, Jewish history changed forever.

The room was dark, dry, and filled with dust—and also with nearly 400,000 fragments made of paper and parchment that had remained untouched for centuries, preserved by Egypt's arid climate. When scholars, notably Solomon Schechter of Cambridge University, first began sorting through this treasure, they unearthed something profound—a time capsule preserving nearly a thousand years of continuous Jewish life and rare texts previously thought to be extinct.

[...

It's good to re-tell this story from time to time.

Especially notable for PaleoJudaica's purposes:

What makes the Cairo Geniza genuinely unparalleled is how it preserved texts once thought lost forever. Among its most significant discoveries is the Damascus Document, an ancient Jewish sectarian manuscript previously known only through medieval copies but later found among the Dead Sea Scrolls. The Geniza's fragment predates the Dead Sea Scroll version by centuries.

Similarly, it contained the original Hebrew text of Ben Sira (Ecclesiasticus), a wisdom book composed around 180 BCE that had vanished from Jewish tradition for nearly a millennium.

Likewise, the most complete manuscript of the Aramaic Levi document, from the same period and with more fragmentary manuscripts also found at Qumran. And some Psalms of David, arguably from late antiquity or even older. And Sefer Ha-Razim, a Hebrew magical tracate from the Talmudic era. All three have been published in new translations, two by me, in MOTP1 and MOTP2.

For more discoveries from the Cairo Geniza, see here, here, here, here, here and many links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

On the Testament of Solomon

ETHNIC RELATIONS AND MIGRATION IN THE ANCIENT WORLD: Judean wisdom: Testament of Solomon on Solomon’s superiority in controlling lower spirits and in healing (first-third century CE) (Philip A. Harland).

For PaleoJudaica posts on the Testament of Solomon, see here and links and here. Perhaps also here. The Testament of Solomon is a late-antique Christian work that knows material from the New Testament, but which also is familiar with Jewish traditions. I view the Christian contribution as considerably more than "limited Christian edits."

For more on Philip Harland's blog, see here and links and here.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Who was the Teacher of Righteousness?

BIBLE HISTORY DAILY: A Dead Sea Scrolls Mystery. Who is the Teacher of Righteousness? (Nathan Steinmeyer).

... Who is the Teacher of Righteousness? This enigmatic figure appears in at least two of the major works from Qumran and has, at times, been thought to be the author of many others. Yet, as discussed by Angela Kim Harkins in her article “Are We Still Searching for the Teacher of Righteousness?” published in the Spring 2025 issue of Biblical Archaeology Review, we might never know the teacher’s true identity. That is, if there ever was one. ...

The article by Harkness is behind the subscription wall, but this BHD essay goes on to summarize it.

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Gupta on the Old Testament Apocrypha

SUBSTACK SERIES: Studying Early Judaism: The OT Apocrypha (Nijay K. Gupta, Studying Early Judaism Substack).

I have noted other posts in the series here and links.

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.

Rosenblum, Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig (NYU)

NEW BOOK FROM NYU PRESS:

Forbidden
A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig

by Jordan D. Rosenblum

Published by: NYU Press

Imprint: NYU Press

272 Pages, 6.00 x 9.00 in, 15 b/w figures

HARDCOVER
9781479831494
PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 2024
$30.00

EBOOK
9781479831500
PUBLISHED: OCTOBER 2024
$30.00

DESCRIPTION

Winner of the 74th National Jewish Book Award: The Jane and Stu­art Weitz­man Fam­i­ly Award for Food Writ­ing and Cook­books

A surprising history of how the pig has influenced Jewish identity

Jews do not eat pig. This (not always true) observation has been made by both Jews and non-Jews for more than three thousand years and is rooted in biblical law. Though the Torah prohibits eating pig meat, it is not singled out more than other food prohibitions. Horses, rabbits, squirrels, and even vultures, while also not kosher, do not inspire the same level of revulsion for Jews as the pig. The pig has become an iconic symbol for people to signal their Jewishness, non-Jewishness, or rebellion from Judaism. There is nothing in the Bible that suggests Jews are meant to embrace this level of pig-phobia.

Starting with the Hebrew Bible, Jordan D. Rosenblum historicizes the emergence of the pig as a key symbol of Jewish identity, from the Roman persecution of ancient rabbis, to the Spanish Inquisition, when so-called Marranos (“Pigs”) converted to Catholicism, to Shakespeare’s writings, to modern memoirs of those leaving Orthodox Judaism. The pig appears in debates about Jewish emancipation in eighteenth-century England and in vaccine conspiracies; in World War II rallying cries, when many American Jewish soldiers were “eating ham for Uncle Sam;” in conversations about pig sandwiches reportedly consumed by Karl Marx; and in recent deliberations about the kosher status of Impossible Pork.

All told, there is a rich and varied story about the associations of Jews and pigs over time, both emerging from within Judaism and imposed on Jews by others. Expansive yet accessible, Forbidden offers a captivating look into Jewish history and identity through the lens of the pig.

As noted on the Agade List, the Washington Free Beacon has a review of the book:

Why Jews Don’t Eat Pork (Though Some Do). REVIEW: ‘Forbidden: A 3,000-Year History of Jews and the Pig’ by Jordan D. Rosenblum (Meir Y. Soloveichik).

Visit PaleoJudaica daily for the latest news on ancient Judaism and the biblical world.